Hot Docs Selects 28 Toronto Documentary Forum Projects

Hot Docs Selects 28 Toronto Documentary Forum Projects

Hot Docs has announced the 28 projects that will be presented during this year’s Toronto Documentary Forum (TDF), North America’s largest market for the international documentary community. The TDF will take place May 5-6, 2010 during the Hot Docs Festival, Conference and Market, which runs April 29-May 9, 2010. This year’s projects were selected from 175 submissions and represent 11 different countries.

“Our goal for the TDF is simply to match content with funding and support,” says Elizabeth Radshaw, director of the Toronto Documentary Forum, said in a statement, “all the while exchanging valuable industry information in an arena that drives innovation and excellence in documentary filmmaking and factual content production. Recently, the documentary industry has seen changes such as shrinking commission budgets, fewer broadcast slots and a shift towards cross media content. Our pitching structure is widening to encompass these elements by welcoming key decision makers such as commissioning editors, interactive executives, distributors, sales agents and third sector representatives to the table.”

A showcase forum for over 500 leading industry professionals, the TDF is focused around a schedule of 25 pre-selected international project presentations made to a roundtable of key international commissioning editors and an observers gallery composed of fellow producers, distributors, sales agents, funders and other buyers. Participating buyers confirmed to date include ARTE, BBC, CBC/SRC, Channel 4, E1 Entertainment, Films Transit International Inc., HBO, NHK, RAI, Sundance Channel, TVOntario, YLE, ZDF, and others.

For the second consecutive year, the Canwest-Hot Docs Funds TDF Pitch Prize will be awarded to the best Canadian pitch at the 2010 event, as determined by the votes of international (non-Canadian) commissioning editors in attendance. The winner will receive a $40,000 cash prize to be used towards the production and completion budget for their project.

At last year’s event (which indieWIREgave a run down of, the Cuban Hat Award was established in an impromptu display of collegial support as TDF Observers passed the hat to raise close to $1400 for their favourite pitch at the Forum. Continuing with their “real cash, no strings attached” award, the organizers have since presented the Cuban Hat Award at the 2009 IDFA Forum and will be returning it to the TDF in 2010. All the money raised over the two days of the TDF will be given to the Observers’ favourite pitch, as determined by ballot.

The following projects (ordered by country) will be presented at this year’s TDF: